Dating Roxas
by Seafood Noodle
Summary: When Roxas suddenly asked me if I wanted to go out with him, I didn't really think about the consequences of answering yes. After all, we just don't dislike each other.
1. Why me?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

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**Chapter 1: Why me?**

When Roxas suddenly asked me if I wanted to go out with him, I did not really think about the consequences of answering_ yes _to him back then. Even though I, myself, including the whole class, or probably, the whole school knew he was crazy, madly_ inlove_ with Kairi.

Kairi was of the same age with us, standing out in the crowd with her red hair I had never seen her wore in bun or pulled it up in a ponytail but just let it fall beautifully down on her shoulders. Her blue eyes were the same with mine but just darker in shade:mine were blue like the sky blue and hers were that of the ocean. Her plaid skirt was always straight with no unwanted folds and her blouse was as white as a new. She had always been the _model-type_ student ever since I first met her in our first year in high school (we were placed in the same class with her and Roxas) which were the exact reasons that made her our class president for three consecutive years. She could have also been in the school council that year but she declined their offer saying that her parents wanted her to focus on her college entrance exams and that being assigned as the class president for the third time was enough for her.

And what made their story a good talk of the entire school, mostly the girls' population, was that Kairi was his _best friend._ Roxas' beautiful, smart, and model-to-everyone best friend.

So when he asked me out on that one chilly December afternoon, just a few weeks before our Christmas break with just the two of us left in the classroom, I was surprised with myself when I actually said yes. Well, of course I was very hesitant at first since we had just been talking for about thirty minutes and that was the longest conversation I had with him since I first met him three years ago. He would greet me sometimes or smile at me when we would pass each other at the hallways (he was one of those who were actually aware my existence) but that was it. Nothing really worth mentioning.

"So what do you say?"

I stole a look at him for a second and then fixed my gaze to the floor. I felt my right hand moving to my left arm and then continuously rubbed it, a mannerism of mine when being confronted by someone. My heart skipped a beat. Does he even like me enough to go out with someone like me? I thought. I knew myself that as an average girl, I could never ever fulfill the Kairi standard and for a guy to ask me out was something next to impossible. With my poor eyes and fear of contacts, I had always been friends with my thick black framed glasses and my pale skin did not help either. Neither my light blonde hair. The only thing I was good at was knowing everything about _anime_ which I had been keeping secret from everyone because I was pretty much sure it would not make me any more_ likeable_ from the eyes of the entire school than I already was.

"I don't... dislike you," Roxas said, as if reading my mind.

I could not figure out his expression but I could see faint red tints on his cheeks. I still did not answer. Why me? I continued to wonder. There were other girls in our class way, way _girlfriend-able_ than me and Roxas was also not that hideous looking to be turned down by them. In truth, he was one of the good-looking guys in our class and the fact that he was there slightly leaning on the desk standing in front of me, asking me to go out with him for unknown reason except that he did not dislike me sent my stomach to flutter.

"And the other day..." He continued. I looked up and faced him again, quite surprised he had more to say. "...you looked so happy while you talked about that movie we watched during computer class."

"T-That was-" I halted, knowing that if I continue, my secret will be secret no more. That was just me being nerd, I sighed to myself. The movie was called _Summer Wars_ directed by _Hosoda Mamoru_, the one who also directed another hit animated movie _The Girl who leapt through time _(see?) It was one of my favorite movies and to be able to discuss it in class, I could not help but feel excited. I bet all that excitement must have been written all over my face that he was able to notice that. I felt my cheeks heated up and I fell silent all over again.

"How about you?"

"Me?"

"You know... do you?"

I stared at him blankly for a while, clueless about what he was saying and then finally, I got it. _Do you like me?_ I completed his question in my head. Do I? Even if I do, what about his feelings for Kairi? Is that it? Is he already giving up? Deep inside, I knew I had always been a fan of Kairi-Roxas loveteam. I mean, who didn't? They had such long history together way back nursery days, personality-wise they suited each other like pieces of a puzzle, and they really looked good together. A perfect couple, we, _the fans_, all claimed.

Lost in my thoughts, I looked again at Roxas and saw him staring outside the window. I followed his gaze and noticed that it started snowing. It was the first snow of that year and for some reason, it made that very moment with Roxas somewhat special.

"Kairi.." Roxas said as if he had read what was on my mind again. "She turned me down." He was looking straight at me, his eyes held mine so strong that I could not look away.

"You confessed to her." I could hear a slight disappointment in my own voice and I wished he did not catch any of it. But really what am I disappointed about? I thought. Is it because of Roxas being rejected by Kairi or is it because I finally confirmed myself that he really had feelings for her? Stupid me. What's with that question? Of course, he had. There should be no other rooms for doubt.

"Yeah. Though I wish I didn't." When he said that, I quickly turned my eyes to the floor, afraid to see the expression on his face. I knew it. He was still inlove with her.

Roxas was _still_ inlove with Kairi.

I knew I was supposed to be angry with him for asking me out even if he still had feelings for her and yet I could not bring myself to do so. He was sad, lonely, and heartbroken and maybe he just wanted some company. And Roxas chose me to be _that_ company. Of all the people, he picked me, this very plain, boring, weird nobody me and there was this part of me that wanted to know why. There might really be no reason why he did but maybe, just maybe...

"I-I..." I began, looking for words inside my head. I did not really know what to say to him and I panicked as I felt his gaze fixed on me again, waiting for me to continue.

"I don't dislike you too."

And there it was. The start of a relationship based on _not disliking each other_. I did not exactly know what made me say that, much consider it as one of the wisest decisions I had ever made in my life but for some reason, those things did not really matter to me at that time. For all I knew, there he was, standing in front of me and I froze as I watched him slowly leaned in, closing the 4-feet distance between us.

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There. Tell me what you think. I don't know if I should continue writing this but if anyone will like this, I might do so.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this story! Reviews and betas are very much welcome! Thanks!


	2. Almost

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

**A/N: **Thanks and hearts to all who wrote me reviews! Now, I should warn all of you that this story is slow-paced so don't hate me if I post some filler, short chapters like this. And also just to make it clear to all of you guys, yes. Namine here is a rebound girl. I pity our cute little blonde protagonist but I just love to make her and Roxas suffer! (Evil grin)

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**Chapter 2: Almost**

Roxas did not kiss me that time.

Maybe he _almost_ did. But when his face was only three inches from mine, I saw hesitation in his eyes and he stopped. Roxas, however, did not move away and just stayed still for about the longest five seconds of my life but never really meeting my gaze. His face was so close I could almost see the tiny freckles just under his lips.

Roxas' _lips_, I thought.

My eyes darted slowly on his slightly cracked lips and suddenly I felt blood rising to my ears. I mentally shook my head.

_I just did not look at that._

I thought Roxas saw me tensed up because we both finally stepped back at the same time. Thankfully, we did not have to bear the awkward silence after that. Mr. Z (we did not really know his true name), the school's oldest guard, was standing at the door of our classroom, the megaphone he always used in his rounds hanging on his neck. He had that smug grin on his wrinkled face that quickly told me he was probably there for quite a while. I blushed even more.

"Go home kids. School's over."

And then he was gone.

"You want to...?" Roxas trailed off as I reached for my school bag and books. He already had his bag and was scratching his head like a child who had done something bad while his sea-green eyes were focused somewhere on his white shoe laces.

_Go home together?_ I finished the question in my mind. I stared out the window and saw it was still snowing. I smiled at the thought of having someone walking beside me on this cold weather. Actually it would be a first for me and for some reason, scenes began flashing before my eyes like saying something stupid in front of him, accidentally tripping over someone's shoes, and the worst of all, blurting out my _secret_. I felt myself shuddering just with the image.

"It's okay if you don't want to, you know." He sighed, a hint of disappointment in his voice. He then straightened up and glanced every now and then at me and the door.

Still not answering him, I took my white muffler inside my bag and placed it neatly around my neck. Then, clearing all the thoughts in my head, I put on the best smile I could give to him to hide my nervousness.

"L-Let's go home t-together." In the end, my tongue betrayed me and I heard myself mumbling the last two syllables of my sentence. To my surprise, Roxas' face brightened and he replied with a full smile I swore I had not seen the past few days. And the moment he did, my heart did some amazing acrobatics even I myself was not aware of.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked, snapping me out my trance.

"Uhm, y-yeah. Come on."

At that time, I knew I was blushing really hard so I pretended fixing my eyeglasses as I walked past by him and deeply prayed he did not notice my burning cheeks despite the snow outside. I stopped upon reaching the door and waited for him to follow. I soon heard footsteps behind me and five seconds later, Roxas was already on my side. His hands slightly brushed with mine and I jerked with the contact. With my eyes shut, I bit my lip and sighed.

_Just what did I get myself into?_

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Again, this is just a filler chapter. Sorry! But please be kind to me and tell me what you think. I promise I'll try to post a longer one next time! :)


	3. Miss Nobody

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

**A/N:** Like what I had promised, here's a long chapter for all of you! Kairi might look OOC in this one so sorry to all her fans out there! I do like her better when she plays the _bad guy _though.

Raise your hands if you agree with me?

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**Chapter 3: Miss Nobody**

When all of a sudden, he started greeting me every morning, talking to me during breaks, eating lunch with me, going home with me... (the list could go on), it was easy for them to notice that _something_ was going on between Roxas and me. And like what I had expected, most of them were shocked. Others threw disapproving looks whenever I passed by the corridors as if telling me I could never be enough for them. And the rest? The rest were left pondering about the biggest question mark in their heads at that time:

"Who the heck is Namine?"

In short, they did not like me. They did not even know I existed in the first place.

But the truth was, it was not their reactions I was most curious to see and I bet deep inside, Roxas felt the same way too.

"Well, that's some news, I guess." A certain redhead answered when some girl in our class told her about _us_ during our homeroom. I saw Kairi glanced at Roxas, who was seated on the last row near the door and seemed occupied on writing something (though I knew he was listening), and then at me. Maybe it was just my imagination but when her gaze landed on me, I thought I saw her flinched as if she had sniffed the inside of a box of milk way past its expiration date.

"I thought Roxas likes me, though." She added with a sad look on her face, catching everyone's attention. When I said everyone, I really meant it. Everyone in the classroom was looking at her, especially Roxas. On the other hand, Kairi's stormy blue eyes were still fixed on me and for the first time, I felt scared and intimidated just by staring back at them. A hungry silence surrounded the room accompanied by the tension building between us three.

I then turned to Roxas for help but he was too confused and lost in his thoughts. At that moment, I did not know why but the fear in me grew even more when I got a glimpse of _hope_ in his eyes as he stared at the auburn girl standing near the teacher's desk.

Suddenly, Kairi burst out laughing. "I was just joking. Haha." Hands on her stomach, she continued laughing and soon everyone joined her too. Relief swelled in my chest as I slowly took in what she meant. "I'm sorry but... the look on your faces... just epic!"

I felt myself almost joining the laughter but I caught a movement on my right and I saw Roxas on his feet, jaws tightened with an extremely furious look written on his face.

"It's not funny, Kairi." He uttered through clenched teeth then walked his way out of the classroom. Once again, everyone fell silent.

"H-Hey! Roxas!" Kairi started running after him but I stepped in front of her and she glared at me in return. "What do you think you're doing? Get out of my way!"

"N-No." I gulped, gathering all the courage I had in me and tried my best not to stutter again. "You turned him down." (There were few loud gasps from the some girls when they heard that so I kind of guessed they had not heard that news before) Y-You have no r-right to run after him."

"Right, huh?" She smirked then burned her deep ocean eyes in mine, making my legs jelly-weak. "Well then, let me tell you this, Miss _Nobody_." All of us were surprised at the sudden change in her attitude. "I'm his bestfriend! I've known him longer than- hey!"

While she was talking, I took that chance to finally run and look for Roxas. As I went through the stairs, I thought I was going to stumble because my legs were still shaky from my encounter with the redhead.

_Oh my god. I just made myself an enemy, didn't I?_

My eyes went wide with the horror as the realization sank in me but I quickly shook the idea away and continued to scan every corridor in search for Roxas. When I got no sight of the blonde guy, I tried the rooftop since it was the only place left where he would likely go aside from, well uh, men's toilet. I quietly turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

To my luck, there he was, standing near the metal fence surrounding the rooftop. He had his back facing my direction and probably did not notice me as I walked towards him. I even managed to get to his side still without him noticing me. Roxas was staring blankly at nowhere when I stole a glance from him and he looked so hurt and frustrated at the same time that I thought he was about to cry.

But he did not. Instead, he just took a deep breath and then put on his calm face again.

"Whoa!" He almost jumped when he finally noticed my presence. "Nam!" I could not help but blushed when he said my nickname. "How long have you been there?"

"For a while n-now?" I attempted to smile but ended up shivering. It was like five degrees outside and I forgot to bring neither my coat nor my muffler when I ran after him. Roxas, who seemed oblivious to my little shudders (much to my disappointment), forgot them too though he did not look cold to me.

We stood there for some time, not really saying anything but merely looking over the city. Everything was covered in snow even the small rivers near my apartment. I could see smoke billowing from the chimneys in the distance and for some reason, I grew homesick of my family back in the country. I realized it was nearing Christmas and they would probably expecting me to go home to spend holidays with them.

I glanced at the blonde guy beside me and quietly wondered what he was thinking. I knew that he still had feelings for Kairi, seeing how hopeful he looked when she hinted she was sad that Roxas started going out with me. I wanted to ask him right then but I did not want to rub it in his face and see him hurt again.

_I just wanted to see him smile._

"Want to see something funny?" I asked, though I quickly regretted it because of its reference to what happened back in the classroom. I saw Roxas raised his brows for a moment but then flashed me a small smile, a signal he was giving me a chance.

"Sure."

I panickly searched for my phone in my pocket, clicked a few buttons, and then showed him a picture I found in the internet. It was a picture of a drunk man's face saying, _Hey Boobs, Nice Girl_.

He moved slightly closer to me and I instantly blushed when his arms brushed with mine. _Stop blushing, you!_ I mentally scolded myself. Reluctantly, I looked up to see his reaction. The picture always made me laughed but I was not quite sure if it had same effect on another person. Or maybe it was just me.

"You g-got it?"

I saw Roxas facing away from me, shaking his head and I knew exactly that I was right.

_It was just me._

And then suddenly, there were chuckles from my side. I turned to look at him again and there I found Roxas clamping his mouth as if stopping himself from laughing. Our eyes met and he tried to regain composure. However, a smile slowly escaped from his lips and I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Fine!" He gave up and leaned closer to me to look at the picture one more time. He let out another chuckle, which I thought was kind of cute to hear, before asking, "Where did you find that?"

"On the internet." I replied and felt myself rejoicing to the idea that I just made him laugh. Well, the picture did. "Want to s-see more?"

Roxas chose that moment to look at me straight in the eyes and as if a reflex, my heart did the same acrobatic thing again though much longer than the last time. I managed to meet his strong gaze but he suddenly turned away and began mumbling something.

"Roxas?"

"Uh, yeah. O-Of course." When he faced me, his cheeks were colored and for a second, I thought he was blushing. And then, he kind of shivered which completely and quickly crushed that tiny bit of hope in me. I sighed.

_He was just probably cold._

"Lemme see another one." Since it was freezing cold but we did not want to go back inside, Roxas suggested to sit near the door so that we were leaning against a wall. At first, it was awkward so I kept a slight distance between us. But later on, I noticed that he was moving closer and soon enough, we were shoulder to shoulders. Roxas was incredibly warm and I liked how the smell of his hair kind of blended with the snowy scent in the air.

We then ended up skipping the whole second period and occupied ourselves with browsing some funny websites on my phone. Every now and then, I would hear his chuckle and when lucky enough, I would catch him laughing his heart out as if nothing happened just hours ago.

Roxas and I came back during lunch and made our way to our usual seat near the vending machine. I kept my head down to avoid the piercing glares from the crowd and silently prayed they would spare me the flying pizzas and the squirting mayonnaise that day. Thankfully, they did.

We stopped by the counter to get some food. Roxas turned to me and asked what I wanted to eat.

"Just some salad." I said.

As he waited for his turn on the line, I went to buy some drinks for the two of us. I was about to go back when a tall guy with spiky long red hair suddenly appeared in front me and flashed me a grin.

"Hi there, my name's Axel." He greeted, sticking out his hand. "What's yours?" Axel sounded nice and friendly so I was somehow relieved. It was not like everyday when someone was being nice to me.

"M-My name's Nami-" I was about to reach for his hand but all of a sudden, he withdrew his own and then snorted.

"Oops! Sorry. Of course you don't have one. Stupid me. It's because you're just _nobody_!" He emphasized the last word and everyone who heard it laughed with him. I guessed they already heard what happened that morning.

_Why did I even think that someone would be that nice to me?_

I felt the familiar burning in my throat and my eyes turned watery but I gave my very best to fight back the tears. _I won't cry. I won't cry._ I repeated to myself like a chant as I walked away from them, their laughter still ringing in my ears, but then eventually fell into a stop when I bumped onto someone. As if comforting me, that someone placed both of his hands on my shoulders and I raised my head to see Roxas.

He was looking at me, his eyes filled with worry and there was a slight hint of guilt in them. Then, he gently stroked my already flushed cheeks with his right hand as he whispered "It's okay, I'm here for you." His voice was very soothing and it easily calmed me down. However, his expression soon changed as he peered over my shoulders and glared at guy just behind me.

"Leave her alone, Axel. You don't want me as an enemy, do you?" Roxas hissed and from the corner of my eyes, I could see the Axel raised his hands in defeat and quietly strode back to his table.

There were silent murmurs from the students around us but once again, I was saved by his voice when he spoke the words "Don't mind them" right into my ear and then slowly, I felt his hand wrapped around mine. My eyes widened as I stared at our intertwined hands and my face almost reached boiling point from the heat. The murmurs from before became distinct grumblings and that was when we noticed we were still standing there face to face, in front of the whole school, a good five to seven inches between the two of us.

Roxas' lips curved in a small smile and he gave my hand a light squeeze. I squeezed back.

At that moment, I was in sheer bliss and even the embarrassment I experienced just minutes ago almost felt like nothing. As he held my hand, I felt safe and calm and there was so something inside me that did not want to let go. I wondered if he felt the same way too.

"Wanna eat now? I'm kind of starving." Roxas said, rubbing his free hand on his stomach. I stared back again at my hand and smiled when I saw he was still holding it. I nodded willingly and he motioned for us to go fall in line. As I followed behind him, I thought I saw a bulk of red hair passed by my side. I glanced over my shoulders to see who that was and my eyes quickly met with another pair of blue orbs I knew too well. She then started mouthing something and my legs instantly went jelly as I deciphered her message.

"Don't ever think that you've already won, _rebound_ girl."

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Phew, that was long. But I was happy that they held hands! It's a start, isn't it?

And I was sort of thinking I should add Roxas POV but then again, the whole point of the title 'Dating Roxas' will be lost so I guess never mind. R&R?

See you next chapter? ;)


	4. With Olette

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

**A/N**: Sorry for the late update. School has already started so it's kind of hard for me to find time and write. And it's raining pretty much in here lately and when it rains, all I want to do is sleep.

Anyway, here's chapter 4 for all of you.

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**Chapter 4: With Olette**

"She called you that?"

I meekly nodded to Olette as we sat on the floor of my apartment, watching our second movie of the night. After arguing with myself whether I should tell her or not, I finally decided to spill the beans to my brunette friend about what happened the day before. After all, she kept bugging me if there was something wrong with me after I bumped to, first, the glass wall of the convenience store when we went to buy some snacks, second, the lamp post on our way back to my place, and the last one, the old grumpy woman living three doors left from mine.

I guessed she was not happy that I almost knocked her down to the floor because she began cursing us in her high pitched voice and Olette and I did what we thought the right thing to do at that moment.

We ran for our lives.

Olette threw me an exasperated look as she grabbed the remote to pause the movie and then faced me. "And if that Roxas really still has feelings for that...witch," She grimaced when she said the word. "Why did you even agree to go out with him in the first place?"

"I..I.." Lost for words, I hugged my knees and buried my face in them.I sighed deeply and muttered something like "I don't really know why" back.

"Come again please?"

"I don't... really know.." I was not lying when I answered that. The feeling that I had when I agreed to go out with Roxas was something like a spur of the moment one though I had no single regret about it. Or at least, that was what I would like to think.

"What do you mean you don't know?" I winced when she suddenly raised her voice. I knew quite well not to talk to Olette about this kind of topic because she had the tendency to be kind of overly emotional. It was not that I did not like that side of her. The truth was I was glad she was always there for me when I needed to talk to someone (literally because we lived just next to each other). Even though she was only seven months older, she had been like an older sister to me and my best friend as well and I was really grateful for that.

It was just that I myself was confused about my feelings that I did not need another person going emotional on me.

"Do you like him?"

"I don't... dislike him..?" I saw Olette flashed me another one of her scary looks so I quickly added. "Well, he's nice and... fun to be with." I remembered that day when he had almost kissed me, our little moment at the rooftop, and the first time he held my hand. My heart did some jumping again but at that time, I did not feel uncomfortable at all. It actually felt good. I found myself smiling and then slowly, it turned into a foolish grin at the thought of Roxas holding my hand again.

"Oh no. Oh no no no." She shook her head and I just looked back at her cluelessly. "I'm afraid I know that look too well."

"W-What? What l-look?" I shifted my position so we were face to face, both our feet being warmed up under the low table. I poured green tea on my empty cup, grabbed some potato chips and waited nervously for her answer.

Olette took a sip of her drink, a sly smile playing on her lips. "Simple. You like him."

A quick blush painted my cheeks. "No, I don't!" I retorted but that only made her smile even more.

"Denial." She coughed. "You soo like this Roxas, huh?"

"I said I don't!" I knew I was losing the battle but I did not want her to feel she was winning either. I had no other choice but to play my last card. "If you don't stop I'm going to spoil the ending!"

"Nooooo! Don't! I'll stop! Just don't!" She pleaded, grabbed the remote again and unpaused the movie. I grinned triumphantly as she pouted, grumbling words under her breath. Olette hated it whenever someone spoils her the ending and I am always with her regarding that. But lucky for me, I had already watched the movie for almost five times and I just did not tell her.

_For emergency purposes like this_, I smiled to myself again.

We both turned back to the TV and silently engrossed ourselves with the film. We were already halfway through it and I waited patiently for my favorite scene to come. It was the scene where the girl was walking behind the guy on their way home after school. The girl, who made a promise to herself that if she would be able to ride the waves, she would confess all her feelings to the guy. Otherwise, she would probably be not able to tell him forever. And on that day, the girl was finally able to ride it. As they walked, she kept a step and a half distance between the two of them. She stole a glance from the guy and saw once again the usual cold expression in his face, the one that clearly said "This is not where I belong."

That was all she needed to know. And that was when the girl burst into tears.

I turned to look at Olette to see her reaction but found her staring back at me. Through the darkness, her hazel brown eyes sparkled with so much concern and worry than I had ever seen her.

"Nam, break up with-"

I jerked when I felt my phone vibrated on the table. I flipped it open to see who it was and saw Roxas' name flashing happily on the screen. A sudden heat rose to my cheeks as if someone had pressed a warm compress on it and I took a deep breath before answering him. For a second, my eyes met with Olette's and she smiled weakly at me as she eased back to lean on the edge of my bed, lowering the volume of the television. I mouthed her a thank you.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hi Nam." Roxas greeted from the other line though it seemed to me he was like whispering. I wondered if he was somewhere outside but I realized it was almost midnight so he was probably in their house which heightened my curiousity more. "Sorry I called you this late."

"I d-don't mind." I lifted my knees from the table and wrapped my arms around them, making some back and forth movement while I sat on the floor with another smile growing on my lips. He never really made phone calls to me ever since we started dating, and it was probably his first. Usually, we were just exchanging mails whenever we had free time but I did not really mind it all. In fact, I honestly did not think of Roxas as someone who likes to call other people. Sure he was an easy going and friendly type of guy but sometimes, there was this other side of him that seemed so cold and distant. The Roxas I still had yet to know.

"W-Why did you, uh, call?" I asked, then heard a finger snap sound above my head, making me look up.

"Stop stuttering." Olette hissed at me but I just ignored her and turned away.

"Nothing. Just wondering what you're doing right now." Roxas replied still in the same manner. A second wave of heat rose to my face again when he said that, making my thoughts jumbled up as if someone shook it the way a bartender does. Then, there followed some five to seven seconds of silence as I waited for him to speak again but then I realized it was me who was supposed to say something in return.

Not really knowing to tell him, I blurted out, "W-We're doing a m-movie marathon right now!"

His small chuckles which I found so adorable I could make it my ringtone, suddenly filled the other line before I finally heard him saying "Really? Who are you watching with?"

I glanced over my shoulders and saw Olette teary eyed as she watched the rest of the movie. She caught me looking at her and shooed me away. I obediently followed her and turned my back to her again. "Olette. I'll i-introduce you to her next time."

"Yeah! You better!" My brunette friend shouted, her tone, even through the shakiness of her voice, in perfect sarcasm.

"Was that her?" Roxas asked and I replied yes to him. "I think I'll pass. She sounds like she wants to eat me or something!" He groaned and I laughed in return. Soon after, I heard him joining in too. A bit exaggerating it might be but at that moment, his voice ringing into my ears, I thought, was one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. For someone like me who was NBSB (No Boyfriend Since Birth) until just weeks ago, it was surely both frightening and overwhelming yet I just could not help but feel that way.

"Hey Nam." He said when our laughter finally broke into an end. "Say..are you, uh.."

"Hmm?" Resting my chin on my knees, I moved my cellphone closer to my ear.

"You know, uh, next week, uh.. classes will end right?" I knew it was stupid because there was no way he would see me, but still, I nodded as a reply. "So I'm kind of wondering if you're.. uh.. free on Wednesday night?" My face was heating up for the nth time that night. Was Roxas.. was he asking.. did he just..?

If only Olette could hear me, I bet she had already killed me with her 'the look' right then.

Wednesday, I muttered, mentally checking my schedule. 23rd of December. Being the unsociable person I was, of course I did not have any plans that day except that I would be going back to my family back in the country early morning the day after and stay there for the rest of the holidays. At the back of my head, there was a voice telling me that I was forgetting something important. I then realized I still had not mentioned it to Roxas.

Well, it's not like he'd spend Christmas and New Year's with you, another voice inside my head began speaking. Remember, he just don't dislike you and the feeling is very much mutual.

_Was it really?_

I let out a long defeated sigh and then told him I was free. "G-Great! Mom's been wanting to-" Roxas was suddenly cut off by the creaking sound of a door opening accompanied by another voice in the background. If I got it right, the voice said something like 'Oh god, Roxas! Lock the door!'

"Hey! It's not that- I'm just sitting in here!" I heard him shouted though very faintly. It was followed by another brief exchange of words but I barely understood what they were saying.

Then it hit me. The way Roxas talked as if he was whispering, the words_ lock_, _door_, and _sit_. He was inside their house, that I was sure. But where in their house exactly? As the image became clearer in my head, small giggles escaped my lips and with that, he probably knew then that I knew where he was.

"Fine. I'm in the toilet. And that was my brother." He confessed and when he did, I burst out laughing. I could not contain myself anymore. Deep inside me, I knew I should be more worried about Kairi and what she could to me (or to us) or just the uncertainty of the future of my relationship with him because in the first place, we could not even say we were in love with each other. But at that time, there was only one thing I was sure of.

Never in my life I had experienced feeling waves of emotions one after another. It was extreme. At one moment, I was happy. Then, I became sad. And then suddenly, I was all giddy again. It only happened when I was with him. I might just look like a rebound to others but if that is what it takes to be with Roxas, I honestly do not mind at all.

"You won't break up with me because of that, won't you?"

"S-Silly. Of course not."

We talked for another few minutes after that and by the time we said good night to each other, the film had already ended and Olette was busy looking at the DVDs again for our next movie. "Someone looks happy, huh?"

I ignored her remarks and browsed at some DVDs too. "What were you saying to me a while ago? You know, before he called."

Olette paused from what she was doing, looked at me in a way as if she was recalling all her thoughts. "Oh. Nothing." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Ookay." I raised my eyebrow, unconvinced with her answer. As far as I knew, the word nothing was not in Olette's dictionary because she always got something to say. She was that type of person. I was about to let the topic go when she started talking again.

"Just don't get yourself hurt, okay?"

I looked up at her and she gave me a small smile. I nodded and smiled back at her. Olette might talk too much sometimes (well, most of the times) but she could really say the sweetest things when needed. "Yes, mommy."

"And if that Roxas breaks up with you..." Olette added while she was inserting the disc to the player. I wanted to make protest because she chose the film without even consulting me but I was more interested to the rest of her sentence.

"If he breaks up with me?"

"You can always go back home and marry your cute _gundam_-boy."

* * *

Dun. Dun. Namine has a fiancé? And he likes Gundam!

Well, I don't really know what will happen in this story but tell me if you like it and I'll try my best to write. Rainy days always make me feel kind of down but I'll be happy if you feed me with reviews! :p

See you next chapter!

P.S. Can you guess the title of the movie Namine and Olette were watching?


	5. Growing Feelings

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

**A/N: **Sorry for the long update! School's pretty hectic this past month so I couldn't find time to write :(

Anyway, here's chapter 5!

* * *

**Chapter 5: Growing feelings**

10, 9, 8, 7...

I glanced at my watch.

3, 2, 1 and..

"Don't forget to read the next chapter for tomorrow's class and please prepare for a-" The perky voice of Mrs. Pots, our ever jolly literature teacher, slowly faded under the ringing of the school bell signaling it was finally lunch time, together with the screechy noises of the chairs as the students in our class stood up to make their way to the cafeteria. I, on the other hand, remained stuck on my seat, deeply focused on keeping my reflexes up for any flying stuff that may come to my direction.

_Any seconds now_, I thought. I kept my head straight the whole time, moving nothing except my eyes to check my surroundings every now and then.

But nothing came.

I quickly sighed in relief, thankful that I was again spared for that day. I was then about to reach for my bag when suddenly, I felt a tap on my left shoulder which literally made me jump in surprise. I turned to my side to see who it was and when I did, something poked my cheek.

"Gotcha!" A familiar blonde guy grinned triumphantly at me and I couldn't help but slowly smile back in return, eased once again to find him the one standing beside me. Roxas playfully gave my cheek another poke with his finger and before I even knew it, I was already blushing. A new reaction to anything Roxas-related which I had been trying to cope with the past few days.

Seeing my reaction, he grinned even more but then eventually withdrew his hand from my shoulder and sat on the empty seat in front of mine. I pretended fixing my eyeglasses like always as I shyly shrank in my chair, eyes glued to the desk.

"Hey." He called. I felt my whole body jerked the moment I heard his voice. Glancing at him, I was not even surprised when I saw him raising an eyebrow at me and another sigh escaped from my lips. I knew he would notice. Or maybe it was just too obvious.

"What's wrong, Nam?" Roxas asked, suddenly sounding worried. "You seemed a bit, uh.. jumpy."

I flashed him an apologetic look and fell silent. Indeed, I was being all nervous and jittery since I entered the classroom that morning but who could blame me, really? Lost were all the happy moments with him that night when I woke up late Sunday afternoon, curled up under the table with Olette's feet near my face, and were instead replaced by uneasy thoughts about Kairi's threat. I was tempted to tell him about it, thinking that maybe he could do something to help the situation but in the end, I chose not to.

_It's my own battle_, I repeated to myself with the little courage and pride I had.

"Did something happen?" Roxas leaned in so that our faces were a bit closer and for the first time, I got a good look in his eyes. They were not just bluish green orbs just like what I had always thought but they seemed to change color from extreme blue to extreme green whenever light hit them. He looked serious when he asked that me, his eyes filled with intense curiosity but quickly softened as he added, "You can always tell me, you know."

My heart was suddenly in my mouth and I tried hard to hide the deep blush in my cheeks again. Then, right hand rubbing my left arm, I lied, "T-There's nothing really. I'm fine." I knew that with way I had said it, it was not at all convincing but I hoped I did enough so he would not push the topic anymore. Roxas then leaned back, his narrowed deep blue eyes burned on me.

"Well. If you say so." He shrugged and I was glad he finally let it go. "Wanna go eat lunch now?"

"Sorry but I kind of brought lunch today." I replied and then bent down to reach for my lunch box in my bag. I did not really want bring lunch but since there were so many leftovers from the night before, I had no choice but to make one.

"Oh, o-okay." Roxas answered, looking somewhat disappointed to me and started to stand up from his seat. "I'll just go and buy bread from-"

"W-Wait! What I meant- You don't have to-" Knowing that he got what I said completely wrong, I suddenly began panicking. I knew I was acting weird just by one look on his face but I was kind of happy too when I saw him sit back again which meant he was willing to listen to what I was trying to say. Breathe, I told myself. "I said I b-brought lunch."

"Uh, yeah. You did." He said, clueless about where the conversation was going.

"I-I brought lunch." I heard myself saying it again though it was more of me talking to myself, figuring out what to say next.

"I can see that." At that moment, I was sure Roxas was stifling a smile and I felt sorry and embarrassed that he had to put up with me being so inarticulate.

"F-For the two of us."

There. Finally, I was able to say it. I slightly pushed the lunch box to his side and shyly raised my head to look at his reaction.

"Oh." Was the only word that escaped from his lips and for a moment, I thought I saw his cheeks reddened. No, it really did. "T-Thanks." He soon added, blinking his eyes as if trying to make sure he was seeing things right.

"You d-don't really have to eat it if you don't want to, you know." I told him, moving the box near to me again. But then as I was doing so, he caught my hands and pulled them along with the lunch box. My eyes met with his and in an instant my heart was in my mouth again. And when he smiled his smile at me, I thought my body would liquefy because of too much heat.

"I would love to, Nam."

With that, I was off to my little heaven.

We then left the classroom and looked for a place to eat. I mentioned to Roxas how I didn't feel like going to the cafeteria and he agreed with me without asking me why which I was really grateful for. Since it was snowing outside, we roamed around the building for a while and when we didn't find any place, we just suit ourselves with the unused stairs at the end of the corridor.

"It looks great." Roxas remarked after we were well-seated and began eating our lunch. I purposely put more chicken pops and sausages in his box and hearing how he complimented it made me do a victory dance deep inside.

"Did you cook all of these?"

I simply nodded in return while repressing a smile and took a bite on my tuna-filled rice balls. From the corner of eye, I secretly watched him ate heartily and the simple sight made my heart swell in familiar bliss.

"You can always go back home and marry cute gundam-boy."

Olette's voice and those words echoed in my head all of a sudden and the next moment I blinked my eyes, Roxas was no longer beside me. Instead, sitting there was a spiky dark chocolate-brown haired guy with big bright blue eyes. He looked skinny for his height, making the white polo shirt and pants he was wearing looked a bit large for him. His skin too was unbelievably paler than mine.

"S-Sora?"

"You really cook better than Mom, Nami." He turned to me and smiled and I remembered how I found it very cute because every time he did that, it brought color to his round cheeks. "I think you should give her cooking lessons."

"Liar." I lightly hit him on the shoulder, stopping both a blush and a smile from escaping. _Is he really here? Or am I just daydreaming?_ I thought. I wanted to pinch myself to find it out but for some reason, I didn't. I hadn't seen the guy for almost three years and I missed him. So much. And to see that he was just right there beside me, even if it was just an imagination, slightly washed away some of my worries and anxieties.

There was also this arranged marriage between us which was something our parents decided when we were still small. We never really took it seriously though I admit I used to have this little crush on him even before. But since I noticed he was more interested in his robotic friends, I kind of put aside those feelings and settled with just friendship. Despite that, Sora was still one of those people I could say very close to me.

And just like what Olette liked to tell me, he is my gundam-boy. Or he used to be. Still, the thought always made me smile.

"Namine?"

Someone's voice woke me up from my trance and as my eyes began to focus, Sora's image slowly vanished, replaced again by that messy dirty blonde hair and deep cerulean eyes filled with worry as they stared back at my own. Then, I noticed that I was clutching the end of his shirt, pulling him slight closer to me.

"Is something the matter?" I heard Roxas asked and that completely brought me back to my senses. Finally conscious of the distance between us, I quickly released his shirt and pulled back away. What did I just do? Mentally poking myself, I turned my gaze down in too much embarrassment.

"Nothing." I answered though I never intended it to be that short. I could still feel Roxas' eyes own me but I could not find the courage to meet them. To be honest, I felt guilty that I suddenly thought of Sora and the fact that he still did not know anything about him just made it worse. Neither of us talked after that and we just continued with our lunch silently until he gave me back the empty box and asked a question I never thought he would ask.

"Who's Sora?"

I froze. Not with only because I was nervous but also with the unexpected coldness in his voice and the deadpan expression painted on his face. It was the first time I had seen him like that and from his limited actions, I could not discern what he was thinking. All I knew was sure of was at that time, I could not stop my hands from shaking as he handed the box back to me.

"There you are!"

We both turned our heads and found Kairi standing steps below us. Then, as if knowing that she got our attention, she took some steps up the stairs so that we, or rather they, were eye-to-eye level. The red haired girl was completely ignoring my presence.

"Larxene said she's also coming to the dinner on the 23rd." She told Roxas who seemed to be back to his normal self again.

"That'd be awesome. She hasn't visited us since graduation." He replied and their conversation went on.

Wait, dinner on the 23rd? That caught my attention. Roxas asked me out on that same date, right? I wondered as I continued watching them talked._ So it isn't a date after all_, I sighed. _Maybe a family dinner?_ Roxas had not mentioned about it since he invited me that Saturday. I knew nothing about our plans.

"Well, Nam's coming too." Roxas said, glancing at me with a small smile and I felt my cheeks grew hot again.

"R-Really?" Kairi asked, though by the tone of her voice, it seemed to me that she was just trying to sound amused. To add to that, I would not miss the way her eyes narrowed at me while Roxas was not looking. She was probably avoiding contact with me as much as possible. "Oh! By the way, did you know that..."

See? She quickly changed the topic.

I did not know how long they talked after that but by the time Kairi was saying her goodbyes I was finally finished with my lunch. The whole time they were talking I saw how natural Roxas' actions were around her and realized he was not like that with me. Same with Kairi. They seemed perfect for each other. Really. It made me wonder then how come things did not go well for them.

And if things did go well for them, that puts me _where_?

Maybe I would probably eating alone, walking home alone or spending time at a bookstore alone like before. The truth was, I did not hate being by myself. In fact, the _me_ before would likely say she liked it. But after this whole dating thing with Roxas, I did not really know what to think anymore. To know that there was this person who suit better with him other than me and that there was this possibility that he would leave me for that person, it sure was not a nice feeling.

In fact, the_ me_ at that time would say she hated it. She hated it so much that she almost cried.

"Oh wait, I forgot something." Kairi clapped her hands as if remembering something as she turned around to us once again. "Here."

The next thing I knew she was already kissing him.

And then everything just went black.

All _black_.

* * *

So there you finally found out who gundam-boy is!

dandelion13 and illusional writter: Yep! 5 centimeters per second. One of my favorite movies ever! :)

xXxGothicButterflySpiritxXx: None of the above :) But I'll write about it soon though!

See you next chapter! Don't forget to review, okay! And if you have time, please check out my other story Annabeth's Chase. It's a PJO fic though. If you're just interested you know. :) Thanks again!

love, Seafood Noodle.


	6. All Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

**A/N:** Sorry for the long update. School ends in just a month so requirements are raining like whoa! And from your comments, for some reason I felt kind of bad that I made Kairi such a bitchy character. Weird. I also changed the book cover! I drew that one while waiting inside a McDonald's.

Waiting is sometimes good, eh?

* * *

**Chapter 6: All Good Things Come To Those Who Wait**

I was not sure what exactly happened right after that.

I was not sure if he chased after me when I suddenly ran off. I was not sure if he checked the empty bed inside the nurse's office to see if I was there because if ever he did, he could have found me. At that time, I wanted nothing else but for him to find me. I wanted him to explain to me why he did not push Kairi away when she kissed him. And even if he did not push her away, I still wanted him to tell me that it meant nothing, that the kiss meant nothing. But I guess he did not.

And when he did not, it made me become sure of one thing: I knew I would not be talking to Roxas for a little while.

"As much as I want to let you stay here, I couldn't." Tifa, the school nurse, said as she sat on the bedside. After my dramatic escape, she was the one who found me sitting on the floor just outside her office, head buried between knees. I thought she was going to tell me to go back to class but to my surprise, she smiled and offered me to come inside.

At first, I hesitated. I did not want other person see me break down. Then suddenly, she asked me if I came there for the special consultation.

"S-Special consultation?" The word sounded familiar. I think I heard it from some girls when I went to the toilet once.

"Yep. Special consultation."

The truth was, it was not really a consultation just like how she had put it, and there was nothing really special about it all. Most of the students just borrow the bed either to sleep, to hide from someone or to skip class. Some, who do not want to sleep but just want to have someone to talk to, she also welcomed them. She even shared to them some of her favorite Fuji apple.

But my case was different. Maybe Tifa had sensed it too because after we entered the office, she just pointed to where the bed was and then put both of her hands over ears. "Don't worry, I won't listen."

Maybe it was from my eyes that wouldn't meet hers or from the shakiness in my voice that she was able to figure out that something was wrong and the thought that she had seen through me almost made me explode right then. But I did not yet. Not until after I muttered an embarrassed thanks to her and was already hidden behind the white curtain. Then, as if a switch was flipped inside me, I let it all out.

I could not even remember the last time I had cried like that.

"Did you feel better?" Tifa asked, tucking her long black hair behind her ear. I nodded in reply, sitting up on the bed, both arms still wrapped around my knees. I might have looked like a little girl to her whose doll was taken. "If that's so, then good. Mission accomplished."

"Mission accomplished?"

She smiled and when she did, I saw dimples appeared on her cheeks. "Do you know why I let students in here even if they're not sick?"

I shook my head.

"Well, it s nothing special really. I just want them to have a place they can always run to, you know. Like a secret base. She paused, biting her lower lip as if she got the word wrong. Or maybe not like that. More of like an escape hatch. Like a door away from reality to some world or something. Do I make sense here? Do you get me?"

"I guess." I wanted to say that I really did understand her, that what she said was the truth, that maybe my feet unconsciously brought me there because what I really needed at that time was simply, an escape. However, I was too shy so I decided to not say anything.

"Escape hatch." She repeated, disrupting my thoughts and then smiled at me once again. "Sounds thrilling, right?"

I simply nodded back, not knowing what to answer. Tifa shifted her gaze outside the window and stayed like that for a while. I followed her and saw that it was almost dark outside, not only because the sun had already set but also from the snow. The glass window too had clouded up and the leaves of the tree in front of it were already covered white. Better go home now, I thought and then I started putting on my school shoes.

"Well, I hope everything goes well between you and Roxas." She said and I fell into a sudden stop from what I was doing. When I turned to her, Tifa was already on her feet. I looked up to meet her eyes.

"H-How d-did.. know..Roxas..I?"

Tifa laughed. At first, I did not know the reason why she did and then she told me "You need to be more articulate than that, Namine." I quickly blushed and with that, Tifa let out a small giggle. "He's right. You really look cute when you blush."

"H-He?"

She did not say anything and just giggled at me again after that. Then, she drew the curtain, walked towards refrigerator beside her table and opened it. "Who's he?" I asked one more time, pressing for an answer.

Again, Tifa just ignored me. Maybe it was just that my voice was not loud enough for her to hear or she was not just at the very least interested in my question, I did not really know. Nevertheless, it did not stop me from asking more. "H-How did you know that Roxas and I are g-going out?"

"Even if I don't look like it, I am updated with the news, my dear. And also, let's just say you two are trending in my special consultation topics." She said, still behind the refrigerator door. I used that time to look for my school bag and soon found it under her table. As I was about to pick it up, Tifa's head popped out and I jerked awkwardly, surprised. With that, she laughed at me again and then held out two cans. "You. Are. So. Cute. Now, choose. Water or juice?"

I picked water.

"Thanks." I said and took a sip. It did not come to me that I was thirsty until I felt the cold liquid moistening my deserted throat. All the crying I did earlier probably dried me out. As I was drinking, I felt Tifa's eyes on me again and my cheeks warmed under her gaze.

"Men are simple living organisms." She began saying and I choked a little with her sudden change of topic. "Sometimes, or rather most of the times, they're kind of dense but in general, they're pretty easy to get along with. Unlike us women, most of their actions reflect their feelings so you don't need to read much in too them."

I did not know what she wanted to imply so I remained silent. But I knew there was one thing about what she said that I could never agree with. "R-Roxas not like that. He's not... dense." I broke my silence and told her, a hint of irritation in my voice. Roxas is not like that, I repeated to myself. Aside from Olette, he was one of those people who could really see through me.

Tifa was taken aback by my reaction but still chose to smile.

"If that's so, tell me why isn't he here now?"

My mind went black again. Maybe it was one of my defense mechanisms. Whenever something I did not like came my way, my body unconsciously refused to perceive them. To put it simply, I was a coward. Maybe Roxas was too, because he did not run after me. Maybe we were both coward. Or maybe he did not really care about it at all.

I remembered thanking Tifa, asking her if I could come back again for another special consultation. I remembered her saying yes, smiling again at me with her cute dimples, and finally throwing an apple to my direction which I barely missed. But most of all, what resounded in my thoughts were her words, asking me the same question again and again.

"Why isn't he here now?"

As I walked along the corridor, I felt the familiar burning sensation again in my chest and beads of tears were only waiting for my signal to fall. But then all of a sudden, the small thin figure of Mr. Z appeared as I was about to make my turn towards the entrance which put me back together. He was swaying his megaphone in big motions and from the way his eyebrows furrowed, he seemed aggravated because of something.

"Children these days.." I heard him grunted as he passed by me. "They just wouldn't listen." I quickly thought that he was referring to me staying late inside the school so I bowed my head and apologized. However, after I did so, he did not even turn around and he just continued walking. For a moment, it made me thought if he saw me or if he was even talking about me.

Later, I found out that he wasn't.

When I stepped outside the building, the school grounds were already covered with snow. My body shivered as the freezing wind blew and I fixed my muffler, burying half of my face under it. That night was unexpectedly cold that it was hard for me to move without quivering. I took another look at the nurse room which was the only room left where the lights were still on and considered going back.

Olette might get worried if I don't go home early, I thought and then opened the umbrella from my bag and started to walk.

It was around when I passed the gate when I heard someone's voice.

"Ah-" The voice said and I turned my head to see who it was.

I said I would not talk to him for a while but when I saw Roxas standing there, snow all over his spiky blond hair and uniform, I could feel that freshly formed resolve slowly crumbled. His cheeks and nose glowed red under the yellowish light coming from the lamp post, highlighting how his skin had almost turned pale white because of the cold. Both his hands were inside his pockets but it did not hide the fact that they were shaking. His shoes were half-buried under the snow. The sight alone caused my heart to tighten and when my eyes finally met his blue orbs, I was long gone. My feet started to move on their own towards him and I saw a smile began to form from his purple lips.

_Kairi_ kissed those lips.

I stopped as the image flashed in my head and stepped back. Like I had thought, I was still not ready to talk to him. Not when I could still imagine the two of them together. "I-I m going home."

"Nam, w-wait!" Before I could even fully turn away, Roxas had caught my arm. "I know you, you don t want to talk to me right now but, but listen to me. I beg you. _Please_."

To be honest, I really wanted to leave. But it was the unexpected desperation in his voice when he said _please_ that made me stay. I was facing the other way so I was not able to have a look on his face but to me, he sounded like he was on the verge of losing something.

"Thank y-you." He said, his voice was slightly trembling. Then, I felt his grip loosening around my arm, finally releasing me. "I-It meant nothing, you know. The kiss, I mean."

I still did not answer. Even if he said it was nothing, it still would not change the fact that he let her kiss him and that was one of the reasons why I was angry him. I understood very well that they are best friends. That they obviously spent much more time together than the two of us did. That it could not be helped if sometimes they do something together. But kissing was definitely not one of them.

"And I already talked to her about it! I-I told her not to do something like that again b-because it isn t right."

"What's wrong... with kissing someone you like?" I asked. Roxas looked stunned. He probably did not expect hearing such kind of question coming from me so sudden.

"If there's nothing wrong about it,.. then tell me why haven t we still done it yet?"

It was my turn to be surprised. He was shyly staring down at his shoes when he said that, a clear blush tinting his already red cheeks. Why haven t we still done it yet? I repeated his question in my mind, processing every bit of it and when I finally did, my face burned hot despite the cold temperature. He actually thought of two of us doing such a very intimate thing! Well, we did in fact almost kissed once but it was that one time only. We did not get that much close to each other after that. I became too caught up with the image that I did not notice that he was already standing in front me, just a feet away. The buttons of his coat and the up and down movement of his chest as he breathed filled my vision. I could not see anything. Not even his face. Then, as if taking me again by surprise, he suddenly pulled me by the hand and wrapped his arms around me.

Roxas hugged me for the first time.

"Why?" He said, squeezing me so tight that I had to let go of the umbrella I was holding. Why, you asked? Because..

"We just don t d-dislike each other. That s why."

I thought I heard him chuckled after that. "You still dragging that one?"

I nodded back and felt myself smiling. Maybe I could never really stay angry at him for a long time. "Roxas, why are we going out?"

"Because I asked you out."

"Why did you ask me out?"

"I don t know. Why did you say yes?"

"I don t know too."

"Is that a good I don t know or a bad one?"

"G-Good, I guess."

"Well that's good. Mine too."

"K-Kairi-"

"It's cold." Roxas gave me another squeeze. I wanted to ask more on what they had talked about but it seemed he did not want to. Eventually, I gave up the idea and placed my arms around him, resting my head on his chest, breathing his scent. Snow and Roxas really did make good combination. "Wanna go home?"

I still did not want to but I felt too embarrassed to say it.

"Yup. Same here."

Not so far from where we were, the lights from a certain room were finally turned off.

* * *

So how was it? I thought of dragging the whole I'm-angry-with-Roxas-because-he-let-her-kiss-him thing for another chapter but I guess it's not so Namine here so I scrapped the whole idea and chose the happy ending (for this chapter). I've got more plans for this fic so don't you worry!

Thanks again for reading and see you next chapter :)

P.S.

Reviews will make this Seafood Noodle happy. Been so stressed this past few weeks :)


	7. Before the Party 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Before the Party 1**

Then came December 23th.

It was the last day of school before Christmas holidays so students were in a familiar lazy trance, their minds already probably set in vacation mode. That day, however, was different for me. My eyes kept wandering outside the window, feeling nervous and at the same time, excited. I was going to meet his parents that night and my knees felt like jelly just by thinking about it.

_Will they like me?_ I thought. I knew from the narrowed eyes she was throwing at me after the Monday incident that Kairi didn't and I was beginning to feel the same towards her which I also knew I could not do anything more about. But with his parents, it was another case. Olette told me not to try too much in pleasing them and just act normal because the normal me was, as she had put it, _lovely enough_ but I could not make myself believe her words.

Roxas knew I was not listening in class. Our eyes met for a second when I attempted to steal a glance of him, a hobby I discovered just recently, and when he caught me, he furrowed his brows and cocked his head to the front as if trying to look angry.

"Listen." He mouthed at me. I blushed and he grinned back. It was just only two days after _that_ happened but it felt like long time had passed. Roxas had been noticeably careful not to bring up that subject and I was aware that he was also maintaining distance from Kairi. Ironically, deep inside I somewhat wished he stopped it though. I did not want to be the reason for the end of their friendship. As far as I had noticed, Roxas did not have much friends in school and I did not want him to lose one. Particularly, a _special_ one.

Everything seemed so complicated that I wished I could just watch anime all day and not think about all these things.

Then rang the school bell.

"Ready?" asked Roxas who was already standing in front of me before I could even put my notebooks inside my bag. School for the year had ended and everyone around us was cheering, the lethargic atmosphere from before was long gone. "Dinner will start at 7 so we still got four hours left. Wanna go somewhere?"

From four to five seats away, I could feel Kairi's gaze piercing at me and that familiar cold shiver ran down in every nerves of my spine again. However, Roxas seemed oblivious about it. Or maybe he decided not to mind. I did though. Very much that I wanted to dash outside away from that classroom, away from her. "S-Sure." I nodded. Roxas held out his hand as soon as I finished fixing my bag and my cheeks raised its temperature without my permission. Knowing that she was watching us, I reluctantly took it.

"You look much better when you smile, you know."

_Come again, please?_

Those words escaped his lips softly but loud enough for me to hear. His face was obviously flushed though he tried to hide it by looking the other way. Then, when he turned back to me, I was surprised when he suddenly started laughing.

"Now that's better!" He exclaimed, smile reaching his eyes. I had no idea what he was talking about all. First, Roxas had pretty lost me with his previous comment and second, I did not know why he was laughing.

Was there something wrong about my face? What did he mean by 'better'?

Roxas smiled again before giving my hand a squeeze and then practically dragged me outside the room. Even though I felt embarrassed with all the staring directed towards us, I could not help but smile too. For some reason unknown to me, Roxas was happy about something. I did not know what it was but his excitement was infectious it could be a crime.

"W-Wait." I called to him and we fell into a stop.

"Hmm?"

He turned to me and again, I blushed under his gaze. Or maybe it was mainly because of the thing I was about to ask him. "C-Can we go to my apartment?"

"A-Apartment?!" I saw his eyes widened and I knew right then that he had gotten the wrong idea. "Your?" He asked again as if confirming if had heard me right.

I nodded and Roxas' face burned _red_ red that I thought all the blood in his body went up to his head. He was obviously thinking about _those_ things and I felt my face heated up too knowing that his mind was filled with _those_ thoughts.

"I-I need to change clothes" I explained though it sounded more like an excuse. But it was the truth. I could not go to the dinner wearing school uniform and besides, Olette would not allow me to even I wanted to. In fact, she had already picked a dress and was probably waiting for me back at the apartment.

"Clothes." Roxas looked surprised upon hearing my answer and another three seconds had passed before he spoke again. "O-Of course, clothes!" Then, he scratched his head and a sheepish grin traced its way on his lips. "Sure, l-let's go to your place."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

It was when we were at the gate of the building when I realized that it was his first time coming to my apartment. The thought had completely slipped my mind. As we stood there, I could see him looking around the place as if examining it, his breathing was short and shallow. Was he nervous? Because I was. I was afraid about what Olette would do to him given that I told her about the Monday incident. And knowing her, she could do anything.

"Is Olette in there?" He asked.

"Yeah. Their classes ended earlier than ours. Why?"

"N-Nothing. She's scary."

"Scary? But you haven't met her."

"She _sounded_ scary."

Seeing how bothered he was, I could not suppress a giggle. "She's not gonna eat you, you know."

Roxas' clear blue eyes were suddenly fixed on me and I bravely met them. I thought he was going to say something because he slightly parted his lips but he did not. Instead, he just smiled, his cheeks colored, before finally saying, "I know you won't let her."

With that, I swore my heart's gymnastics could win gold in Olympics.

"Say who do we got here, huh?"

As I had assumed, Olette was inside my room, sitting leisurely on the floor. A movie was popped on the player though I knew she was not watching. She got her cell phone on her hands and must be texting Hayner.

"H-Hi Olette." Roxas greeted in a small voice. My eyes caught Olette's and she seemed happy with his reaction. "I'm Roxas."

"Of course you are." The brunette said, rolling her eyes at the poor guy. "Did by any chance, another girl kiss you today again?"

"Olette!" I did not expect her attacks to be that quick and harsh and I felt sorry for him. It was my fault that I brought him to my apartment, knowing that my dearest friend who officially hated him even though there was no reason for her to be was also there, waiting for the perfect time to breather fire and toast him.

"I'm just joking!" She replied, rolling her eyes. "Why don't you sit here with me while Nam's changing clothes, Roxas?" Olette looked friendly when she said that but her voice made it sound like it was a death trap.

Roxas had that 'Don't you dare leave me here' look on in his eyes and although I should sympathize with him, I couldn't help but giggle inside. He looked so cute when he's acting all jittery and panicky.

And the only way of encouragement I could give him that time was raising my hand and said "Fight, Roxas." Then I quickly entered my room to get change leaving the two of them alone.

As soon as I closed the door, there's this feeling in me that wanted to just stay there behind it and listen to what they're talking about. My best friend can be tactless but her tactlessness could be of very much use in disarming people and making them spill the beans. She had that effect on me most of the times so I thought maybe she could ask more about Kairi and him. Because I, no matter how I tried, didn't have the courage to do that.

_Nope_, I shook my head. _I should not think about those things. _Roxas didn't want me to either since he's being silent, not mentioning her when we're together. I should really get that hint by now. Leaning one more time on the door, I then sighed, hoping she's going easy on him and then turned to my bed.

When you're the kind of person who's officially clueless about the fashion world, you could appreciate having friends like Olette sometimes. I didn't know where she found it in my closet but she was able to pick one white and camel lace skater dress with short sleeves, a knitted navy blue cardigan and a light brown cross strap platforms for me to wear. At first, I was kind of reluctant if I could pull off such kind of cute clothing but still tried it on. I pulled my pigtails, let my hair fall down like what Olette had told me to do but kept my eyeglasses. Although she had prepared a pair of contact lenses for me, I stood by my decision not to use them because in the first place I had never put one on my eyes before and second, I hated contacts. Olette knew that and yet she still insisted that I use them which kind of annoyed me a little. But as I stared at myself at the mirror, I must say I was not that bad.

Or at least, it was better than the uniform-look.

"Tell me. Where did you hide my best friend?!" The stunned look on Olette's face caught me by surprise after I finally decided to go out of my bedroom. Roxas' mouth was literally hanging open when he saw me that the chips he was eating started falling to the floor. The brunette girl noticed what was happening to him and gave him a nudge on the side which brought him back to his senses.

"M-Maybe I should just change back—-"

"NO!" They said unison. Then Olette stood up and beamed at me, grabbing both of my hands. "YOU. LOOK. AWESOME. I wish I can make you dress like this everyday!"

"Y-You think so?"

"Does your boyfriends' face look like he's lying?" She asked smirked at the blonde guy who quickly gazed down on his shoes the moment he heard his name. From the color of his cheeks, I knew he was blushing. "So what do you think, Roxas?"

"She looks, uhm.. great." Now it was my turn to flush. I tried to suppress the urge to jump in joy but deep inside I was already rejoicing. Roxas thought I looked great! He had never told me that before.

"Hell that she does." My brunette friend examined me one more time. "You sure you don't want-" I nodded, telling her that there's no way I would take off my eyeglasses. "Fine. You win. Well at least with you looking so damn hot, I bet no girls would attempt to kiss your dear boyfriend again, huh?"

"Olette!" I glared at her. She was not usually this hard on someone and I was starting not to like her picking on Roxas who despite all the bashing he was receiving from her, still forced a smile to let me know he was okay.

"Another joke!" She defended, shotting both her hands in the air. There was a wave of silence after that since neither of us three knew how to follow-up that awkward moment.

"Well…" Olette was the first one to break it. "I guess my presence is no longer needed AND wanted here so I'll just…" She gestured to the door. I watched her passed by me and I felt my heart tightened when she did. I was not used to getting mad at her even if we did fight a lot.

"Thanks, Olette." The voice which escaped me was small. "For the dress.."

"It's nothing." She replied and relief flowed in me when I saw her smile. "But I do hope you put those lenses into use."

"Maybe sometime." I returned her smile.

When Olette finally left, I was surprised when Roxas suddenly crashed to the floor on his knees and I quickly rushed to him, worried that something happened.

"A-Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm… I'm… okay." He said, catching his breath which was weird because he was just standing there all the time. "Just—my knees— they just you know—suddenly— Tell me, is Olette always like that?"

"No. It's just-"

"Good. 'Coz I don't know what I'll do if that's her normal self. If she's on that level already now, I don't know what to expect or what will become of me when I meet your father- "

"You want to meet dad?"

Roxas' eyes went bulge when he finally realized what he had just said. "W-Well—did I just say that?" I nodded. "O-Of course I said that! What I mean when I said that is that if given the chance to meet your father-er, not only your father but your whole-"

"It's okay Roxas." I told him, half-laughing because I could not control myself. But deep inside, my heart was swelling in enormous rate that it I could almost feel it in my throat when I heard what he said.

He wanted to meet my family.

I never even thought of that. I was all too caught up with many things like him, asking me out and me, saying yes or Kairi, kissing him. Maybe I should let him to know more about me. The me as I knew I myself.

"Is that being too self-confident of me?"

I shook my head in reply.

"But before you meet my family…" I began, hoping that my newly found courage would not run out before I could finish talking. "I want you to meet my 'other' friends first."

"F-Friends? You got m-more?"

"Don't worry." I said and paused for a bit, thinking and rethinking if I should tell him this or not.

"They don't know about the kissing incident."

* * *

I didn't really know how to end this chapter so I just ended it with Nam slightly showing her funny side to Roxas. Well, I hope you enjoyed this one. See you next chapter!

Happy Holidays!


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